Disney Dining With Allergies –

We are getting ready to head back to Disney Parks and I remembered I had written about our last experience there with 2 children suffering from severe food allergies. SO many have written into my email asking me questions and telling me their nightmarish stories of travel gone wrong in another park in Orlando area, with foods and their allergies and then inquiring as to if is really possible to eat in a park with food allergies. In fact it is possible to do Disney Dining with Allergies, we have done so successfully on more than one occasion and we are just busting at the seams to head back in this upcoming year! You might recall my son has severe food allergies to latex, nuts, fish, and almost all fruits so his menu is severely limited, but we know how to manage this. My daughter has since turned the corner and is fine (Yeah). I thrive on a menu that is meatless and of course we have every other spectrum in our family from carnivorous to picky! Disney Parks will afford you the opportunity to dine as a family, enjoy meals together and gain that family time like no where else. Lavishly live food out loud and do Disney Dining with Allergies!

On of our most recent trip to Disney was a great family experience and as usual, DISNEY made my kids brim with a smile from ear to ear. My most challenging moments as a mom of 3 are the food allergies that 1 of my 3 children have. His food allergies could prove fatal and we must carry an Epi Pen everywhere, making meals very limiting.

Dining out is a nightmare, but with proper planning anything can be avoided and in many cases we can dine out. The more I open my mouth, the more I ask, the more I learn. There are many of ‘me’ out there who feel like all they do is advocate for their kids, but that is your job. Just because most don’t have allergies, where is it written that those that do suffer from food allergies should not be able to dine out?

We recently dined in both Universal and Disney and I have to tell you that Universal and Disney have their acts together with the dining. Here is the down and dirty on eating with allergies while on vacation, at Disney, as we lavishly lived our dining out loud, eating food, snacks and meals day long in the happiest place on earth.

It’s not about finding food in Disney that is Gluten Free, Nut Free, Latex Free, Shellfish free food, rather sometimes the wait that is involved can be lengthy, but plan ahead and know this and you are good to go! Now for all the greatness of dining in Disney with food allergies. In general the eateries that offer walk-up and stand in a line were where you need to be prepared, and make sure you state your food allergy, once this is said and done, lunch or dinner will be prepared without contamination (phew). We would place our regular order, for my husband, one son and self and then the magical adventure would begin.

The food manager for the counter would come and speak to us (glad they did this). This point person would take our order, advise us of our options and then all we had to do was wait for gluten free bread, special food handling, chips to be obtained from across the park (in Hollywood Studios), very easy. I appreciated the safety and the concern, it was just over-the-top perfect. The food itself was Disney amazing.

OPTIONS & Where TO

The options are well marked, and you should inquire everywhere. There is such thing as just Gluten Free menu, in Animal Kingdom where there is a little walk up food booth that offers Gluten Free(Garden Kiosk) foods and for $5.50 you can purchase ONE cupcake or how about more for a bag of special chips and so on. At this booth, you can also find out all the special dining options that are in Animal Kingdom and then figure out where you want to eat in Animal Kingdom. There are binders with food ingredients at many of the places in Disney, but you don’t get access to these until you are ready to order.

My suggestion in Animal Kingdom is to eat at the Garden Kiosk. We found hot dogs that offered potato buns, with packaged carrots, grapes and a water for my one son with all the allergies for about $7, and for my daughter we came up with a GF Turkey breast sandwich that had cranberry mayo on GF Bread. There was plenty of seating under cover and the kids were content(do not the birds that were around were definitely there to eat, so be prepared to share).

We also found Edamame Beans between Africa and our walk to Asia. These were the most awesome treat we had on the whole trip! The beans were cooked to perfection and the little u-boat they were served in was super cute. I think we were at Mr. Kamal’s.

I can suggest, but I will say CHECK and double check: Popcorn was an item both children could dine on without problems throughout both parks and often we found fresh fruit so we purchased that often.

Dining in the Disney restaurants was not easier as the waiting staff brought out a kitchen manager(chef) who took our order. This was staggered ordering but food was being prepared separately, so do understand the challenges. We are also told no one can guarantee complete safety, so you are still eating at your own risk as food is all prepared in the kitchens and there are not separate facilities.

My One Suggestion To Disney

Bottom line: you can eat in these parks, but you have to plan ahead, and be prepared to wait longer than the normal consumer. I get the safety factor, and appreciate the concern, but with all the people dining with allergies(there are lots) you would think that the most magical place might simply open a dedicated line in every facility for Allergen Free Foods, Order Here. It would take out the wait and the kitchen might need to dedicate areas for food compliance.

The allergen free foods are delicious. Disney offers so many great things, I just don’t understand why they can’t have a few dedicated facilities where if you have food allergies, or a Gluten Intolerance, a place that you can just walk in, grab stuff and eat, like people without allergies do? I do hope Disney will consider creating food kiosks dedicated to people with food allergies where food is walk up and set to go, for hamburgers, french fries in a dedicated fry only oil, breads, veggies, and nut free desserts without having to wait in lines.

Suggestion to those with allergies headed to Disney and all it’s parks: Bring in your own packed foods if you have access to a kitchen or foods that will carry well in a backpack as DISNEY is very allowing of bags. We did this a few days to help the kids out with their dining options, not only did it make dining easier, it made it so much more stress free on us and we all ate food at the same time.

Have questions? Hit me up, we dined in all the parks, at so many different places, and this is just a light overview. You can lavishly live life out loud and enjoy dining in all Disney Parks, you just have to query ahead, and ask, ask, ask while you are in the parks. Food in the park runs about the same cost as Gluten Free foods outside of the park. Get creative, ask for salads with meats to avoid buns, but make sure to ask what the meat was prepared on. Bring plenty of bagged snacks and carry a backpack that will allow you the possibility for light snacking in case lines are too long.

This is NOT A SPONSORED POST! My writing is based on personal experience, yours may differ, but this is what happened as we dined in Disney(Orlando)

I’m happy about the Food Manager who assisted and took care of you guys. I get the impression that Disney is trying to give excellent service and I hope they ( as well as other establishments ) tweak some stuff in operations to be able to efficiently service guests with allergies. Food kiosks dedicated to guests with other food preference is definitely a great idea.

I lived in Orlando for many years and had a friend who had food issues… Disney surprisingly will accommodate! You really do just have to know you’re going to be there awhile lol… Which honestly isn’t that bad of a thing most times

I do not have children with allergies however I eat an extremely low fat and low sodium diet and expect to be able to find choices when traveling I hope they heed your review and improve standards as so many have dietary issueEileen Kelly recently posted..Botticelli Food Products

This is really useful for any parent with a child who has allergies. Disney land is amazing too we love it but we have never eaten at a disney park restauraunt yet.Angela at Daysinbed recently posted..Hopes Relief Therapeutic Skincare Range Review

It’s definitely a challenge to dine out when you have kids who suffer from food allergies, it’s terrifying too if the restaurant isn’t accommodating at all! But if there’s a will, there’s a way, always. I can’t believe Disney did this though.

I thank you for your candour and openness about your experience. Not everyone will have the same ones at the same place so no one ought to knock you for sharing what was your experience. Should you choose to visit again or not, now you know the limitations.Claudette recently posted..Everyday Wisdom For A Great Year

It’s the same at Disneyland. I have 2 small children that usually get their food and are finished eating by the time I get my food. I know I should appreciate the measures they go through but I hate planning to be hungry 20 minutes before every one else.
We ate at the rainforest cafe. There was 1 thing on their menu that I could eat that wasn’t salad. (One can only eat so much lettuce before they are starving!!) It took 20 minutes longer for me to get my dinner and when they brought it to me it was not cooked correctly and there was NO WAY I could have waited another 20 mins

I am surprised you had such a rough time at Disney. Since it seems you prepare to eat out- did you Google anything about Disney allergies? You can call a chef and talk them to about dining choices. Disney will also send a complete list of all food available in each park and restaurant before your visit so you can be prepared and know exactly what you need before you spend time in line. We love speaking with a chef at each restaurant and they have always sent all of our food out at the same time. Every kiosk or counter service also has a binder with food choices- we have never waited more than 1-2 minutes for the binder to check our choices.
Universal on the other hand we found to be a complete nightmare and unwilling to try to accommodate allergies- we were actually lied to by a chef- which as you well know could be deadly.
I cannot say enough good things about Disney nor warn enough people about Universal!

We were provided a chef’s phone number and name for Universal with no second thoughts. He provided a list of where to eat based on our allergies. The staff was over-accommodating. Disney is a nightmare. In the articles I have written you can see their short responses and their aversion to helping when they state,” we change food vendors weekly” that would be quite impossible as there would be no consistency in their food, they just don’t want a law suit based on what they might offer. Asking questions, waiting for food, having food that does not appear until later than everyone at the table and the limited choices, not published on a menu makes it very difficult to work it out with Disney. I did google everything and I attempted to call each location, but there are no numbers other than the Disney Dining and the Tutto Italia(which is a feeble excuse for an Italian restaurant nor is it owned by Disney). We faxed paperwork ahead to the Magical Kingdom but none of that helped make it easier to dine. There are other articles by other people discussing the magical myth of not eating in Disney with allergies as it takes too much time to seek out the appropriate food. If you have children you need to get in line for them ahead of any others and be prepared to wait. Disney offers a list that states with nut allergies to stay away from most things in Animal Kingdom because of nuts, which is pretty much a food staple for the animals, making this a harder jaunt and venue for those very sensitive to nuts. As for finding food in all these locations, you have to ‘seek’ the food out as menus are not marked Gluten Free. Animal Kingdom is so proud of this little hut that offers some GF offerings and a list of where you can eat in that park, but for a park that is that big, this little hut, no bigger than a Starbucks Drive thru is really not impressive. We have traveled here so much, year after year, as all my articles discuss, we know the parks inside and out, but I am finding the parks less magical and harder to accept. The world is loaded with people, allergies and Gluten Free Intolerances, but the most magical place on earth is a bit less magical as you have to almost play, “look for the food” like you do look for the ‘hidden Mickey’s” Not acceptable from a business this large.